Zelenskyy hails Kursk success as Russia rules out talks

KYIV: Moscow on Monday (Aug 19) ruled out any peace talks with Ukraine despite Kyiv raising pressure on the Kremlin by claiming fresh advances in its nearly two-week offensive on Russian territory.
Ukraine sent troops and tanks over the border on Aug 6, penetrating several kilometres into Russia’s Kursk region, where they are holding onto a chunk of territory.
Zelenskyy said Monday that Ukraine now controls over 1,250 square kilometres and 92 settlements.
The biggest attack on Russian soil since World War II has rattled Moscow and taken Ukraine’s Western allies by surprise.
The incursion into Kursk would also not have been necessary if Ukraine could use such weapons to protect “citizens in border areas”, he added.Zelenskyy urged diplomats to organise a second peace summit this year, saying: “We must force Russia, with all our might and together with our partners, to make peace”.
But Kremlin aide Yuri Ushakov said Kyiv’s attack had pushed the prospect of peace talks further away.
“At the current stage, given this escapade, we will not talk,” he said Monday.
He called entering a negotiating process “completely inappropriate” and said future talks “depend on the situation on the battlefield, including in the Kursk region.”
The prospect of peace talks appeared distant even before Ukraine launched its incursion into Russia.
Russian President Vladimir Putin had demanded Ukraine cede swathes of territory if it wanted a ceasefire.
Zelenskyy, who has ruled out direct talks with the Kremlin, demands Russia’s full withdrawal from Ukrainian territory, including Crimea, and reparations.
Seeking to give impetus to a possible settlement, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi will visit Ukraine on Friday, officials in New Delhi and Kyiv said.
Modi recently visited Moscow, is close to Putin, and has made no secret of his desire to bring about an end to the conflict.
Meanwhile, Ukraine was pushing on Monday with its Kursk offensive.
A third bridge over the Seym river inside Russia was hit over the weekend, a Russian military investigator said in a video published by high-profile pro-Kremlin TV commentator Vladimir Solovyov.
In eastern Ukraine’s Donetsk region, Moscow said it captured the town of Artemovo, which is called Zalizne in Ukrainian.
Zalizne had a population of around 5,000 at the start of 2022 – making it one of the largest places captured by Russian troops in recent weeks.
Ukrainian artillery fired on a bus stop in the city of Donetsk, which is under Russia’s control, killing a pregnant woman and wounding 10 including two children, said Denis Pushilin, the Russian-installed governor.